Posts Tagged ‘
Conspiracy Theories ’

The New York Times report on IT company Axact has taken the media by storm, especially since it directly involves the new channel Bol. We have no comment on the reports allegations, and will wait to see whether ongoing investigations produce any meaningful evidence. However, a dear reader brought our attention to a very curious […]

Issues like creation of a new province can spark legitimate debate and discussion about the pros and cons of such policies. Or, if you need a short cut, you can always accuse the other side of acting in the interests of foreign powers. This is the case in Major General (r) Tahir Ali’s recent piece […]

This week’s events have left many scratching their heads. Dr Tahirul Qadri’s return to Pakistan in the final few months before elections left many wondering, “why now?” Adding to those questions are the size and scope of Qadri’s long march. Who has paid the Rs800m to reserve 40,000 buses? Who paid $4 million on television […]

An article in The News (Jang Group) of 20th December bearing the headline, ‘Osama’s ghost behind killing of polio workers’ suggests that recent killings of polio workers are the result of a CIA operation intended to catch Osama bin Laden, but the piece ignores the fact that conspiracy theories about polio vaccinations and attacks from militants […]

In an unusual moment of candor, an editorian of The News (Jang Group) termed its own reporting on a recent issue as ‘conspiracy theories’. The admission appears to be unintentional, but whether intended or unintended, it should provide a lesson for media groups to exercise scepticism and discretion before rushing to publish rumours. The editorial which […]

We noted earlier that The News (Jang Group) had engaged in pointless point scoring by elevating a story about Americans unhappy with the recent election posting on the White House website asking that their states be allowed to secede from the US. The Nation has not only repeated this story, but added some creative misinformation to make […]

According to a bold front page headline of The News ‘Citizens of 20 states seek separation from the US’. Is the great American Super Power on the verge of collapse before our very eyes? Will the UN have to intervene before another civil war? Actually, that’s nt likely. The story is referring to “several petitions…requesting […]

Talking to a group of officers at GHQ on Monday, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made a statement that media talking heads and so-called ‘investigative reporters’ should take to heart: While constructive criticism is well understood, conspiracy theories based on rumours which create doubts about the very intent, are unacceptable. COAS Kayani […]

Following the attempted murder of young education activist Malala Yousafzai, many news reports in the West heralded what was supposedly a uniting of Pakistani society against the Taliban. While this was going on, however, efforts were being made to break this unity and turn Pakistanis against the young girl by terming her as a pawn […]